Preventing Suicide
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PREVENTING SUICIDE A resource for pesticide registrars and regulators PREVENTING SUICIDE A resource for pesticide registrars and regulators Preventing suicide: a resource for pesticide registrars Third-party materials. If you wish to reuse material from this and regulators work that is attributed to a third party, such as tables, figures or images, it is your responsibility to determine whether ISBN 978-92-4-151638-9 (WHO) permission is needed for that reuse and to obtain permission ISBN 978-92-5-131787-7 (FAO) from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement of any third-party-owned component in the work © World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture rests solely with the user. Organization of the United Nations, 2019 WHO Photographs. WHO photographs are copyrighted and are Some rights reserved. 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CONTENTS Identify highly hazardous pesticides 25 Foreword 06 for withdrawal by using the criteria of the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Management (JMPM) Glossary 08 Put in place regulatory actions to 26 Executive summary: 09 phase out, through national policies What pesticide registrars and enforcement, the most hazardous and regulators can do pesticides, alongside advice and training to prevent pesticide suicides about low-risk alternatives Require data on human risk 26 Background 10 assessments for national registration of new pesticide products Suicide facts and figures 13 Facilitate the registration 26 and use of low-risk pesticides The disease burden from 13 pesticide self-poisoning Strengthen inspection and control 27 Risk factors for suicide 15 Be aware of the conflicting agendas 27 of different stakeholders Suicide methods 17 Support research into safer alternatives 27 Means restriction and suicide prevention 20 to highly hazardous pesticides References 29 International conventions and United 22 Nations initiatives related to reducing reliance on use of pesticides Annexes 33 What pesticide registrars 24 Annex 1. Means restriction in a historical 33 and regulators can do to prevent context pesticide suicides Annex 2. Evidence of the impact of toxic 34 Identify pesticides commonly used 25 pesticide bans on suicides in fatal self-poisoning 6 FOREWORD Suicide is a leading cause of premature mortality among young people in many countries, making it a serious global public health problem. Suicides are preventable but preventing them is no easy task. Interventions range from providing the best possible conditions for bringing up our children and young people, through accurate and timely assessment of mental disorders and their effective treatment, to responsible reporting of suicide by the media and the environmental control of risk factors. Pesticide poisoning is one of the commonest, and most authorization and management of pesticides – whether readily preventable, methods of suicide in certain parts in a pesticide regulatory unit within a ministry, or in a of the world. Overall, pesticide poisoning accounts for dedicated pesticide registration authority or a member of as many as one in every five of the world’s suicides. a pesticide registration board. Appropriate action by pesticide registrars and regulators has the potential to save thousands of lives every year. WHO and FAO are particularly grateful to Professor David Gunnell, University of Bristol, United Kingdom of Great This booklet is one of a series of resources for specific Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), Professor Michael groups who are in a unique position to prevent deaths Eddleston, University of Edinburgh, UK, and Professor by suicide.1 Suicide prevention involves the concerted Flemming Konradsen, University of Copenhagen, efforts of many social sectors and professional groups – Denmark who produced the first version of this booklet national and local government, legislators, law enforcers, with inputs from Mark Davis, former team leader of health workers, educators, social agencies, the media, Pest and Pesticide management, Plant Production and families, schools, workplaces and communities. This Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of resource is targeted at pesticide registrars and regulators the United Nations. who have an important role in reducing access to, and regulating the use of, highly hazardous pesticides. The text was subsequently reviewed by the following experts: Teresa Au, WHO headquarters, Geneva, Throughout the booklet “pesticide registrars and Switzerland; Lai Fong Chan, University Kebangsaan regulators” are referred to as a shorthand for all Malaysia (UKM) Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; persons involved in the policy development, evaluation, Shu-Sen Chang, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, 1 See: : https://www.who.int/mental_health/resources/preventingsuicide/en/ (accessed 24 August 2019). Preventing suicide: a resource for pesticide registrars and regulators 7 China, Province of Taiwan; Christine Fuell, Food and Rome, Italy; Yongsheng Tong, Beijing Suicide Research Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and Prevention Center, Beijing, China; Harold van der Valk, Rome, Italy; Jennifer Hall, WHO headquarters, Geneva, Chemicals and Health Branch, UN Environment, Geneva, Switzerland; Kairi Kolves, Australian Institute for Suicide Switzerland; Mark van Ommeren, WHO headquarters, Research and Prevention (AISRAP), Griffith University, Geneva, Switzerland; Danuta Wasserman, National Brisbane, Australia; Sandhya Kulshrestha, Central Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill Insecticides Board and Registration Committee, Ministry Health (NASP), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Faridabad, India; Aiysha Malik, WHO headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland; David Bramley, Prangins, Switzerland, edited the text. Gamini Manuweera, Chemicals and Health Branch, UN Environment, Geneva, Switzerland; Matthew Miller, Bouvé This resource is being widely disseminated in the hope College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, that it will be translated into local languages and adapted Boston (MA), United States of America; Oxana Perminova, to local situations. Such adaptation is a prerequisite for FAO, Rome, Italy; Jane Pirkis,